Hi folks,
I have been reading on this site trying to discover what camera to purchase.

Things I have read here and elsewhere are quite confliciting and confusing. I don't have the option to buy something, then not like it and get something else like I have read many people do. What I buy I will have to like for a very very long long time.

I am now using a Canon Rebel that uses film, but costs are getting really high for develping and I want to go digital.

I tried my son's digital last summer and my 3 biggest complaints are dark or poor indoor pictures, blurry pictures and battery life.

I have been saving money, and have close to $300 I could spend.

Some of what I am looking for in a camera:

I am concerned about picture quality in a digial camera. I some times enlarge candid shots, so need to have good quaility.

I take pictures of my kids and other people, many times inside.

I do take picutures outside as well, and some of them action shots of kids moving, but also nature pictures of things close up but also scenery.

I don't want a large camera like what I have, although I can't afford them any how, and would like a more compact size although am willing to go a bit larger for good picture quality.

A nice zoom would be great, but isn't as important as picture quality.

What I have looked into so far:

I looked into the Panasonic Lumix line...specifically the ZS1 or the ZS3. Got close to getting one of these when I found the replacement batteries not available and the battery life on one poor and poor indoor picture quality on the other.

Steve also recommends the Panasonic Lumix DMC ZR1, but doesn't have a full review on it.

I also heard some complaints about Panasonic's customer service, which I don't like. Got to have good customer service for me !

The other camera I started looking into which Steve recommends here, but again no full review, was the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H20 . I usually disreguard complaints that are isolated, but this one had more than 1 or 2 complaints about blurry pictures of moving subjects and not just in low-light conditions....having read about some cameras that are really great at "stopping action" I felt this was probably not a great choice.

Since you already have a Canon Rebel 35mm film SLR, the lens or lenses you have for that camera will also work with a Canon dSLR, and while it might exceed your budget, probably not by much. If you already have lenses appropriate for what you want to shoot, that might be your best option.

TCav made a suggestion on re-using the lens from your Rebel, so you might want to consider that. If you decide, as you wrote in your post, that you would rather hav a physically smaller digital camera. The Canon SX-120 and the Sony H-20 are very good choices. Both cameras have full automatic and manual controls, so stopping the action of rapidly playing child is not a problem at all, if the user just sets the camera up correctly to use a faster shutter speed.

In addition the Sony H-20 has the best built-in flash unit in the compact zoom market niche. With H-20 camera set to Auto ISO your Flash Range (the camera to subject distance) can be as much as 20 feet, allowing you to photograph groups and family events quite easily. The Sony H-20 also has HD video. In contrast, the Canon SX-120 has an effective flash range of 13 to 14 feet.

TCav made a suggestion on re-using the lens from your Rebel, so you might want to consider that. If you decide, as you wrote in your post, that you would rather hav a physically smaller digital camera. The Canon SX-120 and the Sony H-20 are very good choices. Both cameras have full automatic and manual controls, so stopping the action of rapidly playing child is not a problem at all, if the user just sets the camera up correctly to use a faster shutter speed.

In addition the Sony H-20 has the best built-in flash unit in the compact zoom market niche. With H-20 camera set to Auto ISO your Flash Range (the camera to subject distance) can be as much as 20 feet, allowing you to photograph groups and family events quite easily. The Sony H-20 also has HD video. In contrast, the Canon SX-120 has an effective flash range of 13 to 14 feet.

Have a great day.

Sarah Joyce

Hi

And thanks for these suggestions as well. I will look into these also.

I don't have a choice but to be really picky since I have to save for such a long time to get extra money for this type of thing.....AND I have a poor memory for some reason, so my picture ARE my memory in many cases......got to have them !!

I don't know for a fact, but it seems your Canon Speedlite 420EX is compatible with Canon EOS dSLRs and PowerShot "G" Series P&S digicams.

Your Canon 28-80 isn't much, but on a tight budget, it will get you started. Since Canon's entry level dSLRs have smaller image sensors that the film exposures in your 35mm SLR, the angle of view will be narrower. On an XSi, it will work like a 45-128mm lens.

Actually, the autofocus on the Canon XSi is pretty good. A lot depends on the lens nad the light, and perhaps the reviews you've read were by people that are more accustomed to pro level equipment. See Steve's review here: http://www.steves-digicams.com/camer...rebel-xsi-slr/

The Canon SX-120 and the Sony H-20 are very good choices. Both cameras have full automatic and manual controls, so stopping the action of rapidly playing child is not a problem at all, if the user just sets the camera up correctly to use a faster shutter speed.

Do you use the Sony H-20 camera?

I had looked at that one.

Does this have to be done manually or does this camera have an automatic setting for action pictures?